And here's my VECTO scene of the week:(Previously: The thief drops Streamline's weapon but blows up Vecto's V-Extreme vehicle. He lands on a rooftop.)

He walked toward the edge to make sure it was safe, but this time, he could see a red figure falling from the sky.

The suited figure crashed to the rooftop in front of him, creating a small crater. Vecto was still alive. Slowly, he rose from the smoke, and his suit flickered. The image of his suit disappeared, revealing a mass of weaponry floating in the air.

“What--what are you!?” The kid stumbled back.

The weapons dropped to the surface, and a single orb hovered in the air. It was accompanied by a small slab of graphite, disintegrating within the shield. The graphite hovered toward him.

The kid watched as metallic pieces transported around the orb. First a chest piece, encompassing the orb, then a waist, followed by pieces of arms and legs. It formed the shape of an 8-foot-tall humanoid robot, with hovering pieces for a body. The robot took firm steps toward the kid, his head looking deathlike.

The slab of graphite vibrated in the air and slung itself to the robot’s hand as if it was a magnet. The top of it began to disintegrate, forming a sharp tip. The next thing the thief knew, he was lifted in the air with a metallic hand pulling his collar, and the pencil was pointed at his eye.

“Go ahead; I’m not afraid of you!” the kid yelled.

“… Where’s the gun, you swindle drifter?!” Vecto ordered.

“Look here … whatever you are. I only stole it ’cause I had to. I got a wife and family to feed and ain’t got no job. So give me a break, will ya?’ The kid explained.

Vecto restrained himself from stabbing him for blowing up his car. “The algorithms of your speech suggest you’re lying,” he reasoned. He dropped the graphite and reached for the kid’s mask, pulling it off his head.

It revealed a well-shaven face. The kid had black hair that slicked back and purple eyes.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! You just gave away my secret identity!” the kid fussed.

“That’s the idea,” Vecto said. “Now where’s the weapon?!”

The kid paused. “You know, it would be nice if you let me down for a change,” he said. “You do that, and I’ll tell you where it is.”

Vecto begrudgingly complied and lowered him to the surface.

But the kid quickly jumped back, kicked up the handle of his sword from the ground and snatched it, yanking the chain with the blade attached, slinging it in the air. He ran at Vecto, snatched the flying blade by one of its slots, and struck Vecto in the face with it. The chain retracked back into the handle, reattaching the blade, and Vecto remained still.

“Enough!” Vecto responded. He knocked the sword from the theif’s hands and pounded the nozzle of his Blaster 3,000 gun in his chest, sending him flying. The kid crashed through the slanted solar panel and fell out of sight into the building. That was for blowing up my car, Vecto thought.

(Did Vecto kill the thief? And will he find Streamline's weapon? Find out more in the next installment of VECTO!)

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